SK Hynix shares plunged sharply in Seoul trading on Monday, leading declines among Asian semiconductor names despite the company enjoying a strong showing on the Nasdaq last week.
Shares of SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) slid nearly 11% to 1,942,000 won, marking an over one-month low. The drop contributed to more than a 5% fall in the KOSPI index, and the Korea Exchange briefly halted trading as losses deepened.
South Korean outlets pointed to a research note from Korea Investment & Securities Co. as a key catalyst for the sell-off. The brokerage expects SK Hynix's second-quarter operating profit to come in at 60.4 trillion won ($40.3 billion), which is below the 65 trillion won consensus estimate.
The note argued that SK Hynix likely recorded a smaller rise in the average selling prices of high bandwidth memory - HBM - because the company holds a larger share of that market than many rivals. That dynamic would have limited the benefit SK Hynix captured from elevated HBM prices in the latest quarter.
However, a ChosunBiz report cited in market coverage said selling prices for HBM are expected to move in line with the market average beginning in the third quarter.
Even with the recent pullback in its Seoul-listed shares, SK Hynix is still projected to post strong year-on-year growth in second-quarter earnings, which it will report later in July. The company has been a major beneficiary of rising memory prices amid outsized demand from the artificial intelligence industry.
At the same time, market commentary highlighted unease about whether the very strong, AI-driven uplift in earnings can be sustained at current levels.
Separately, optimism around the broader AI trade helped SK Hynix's American Depository Receipts surge nearly 13% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday. The company raised about $26 billion from the offering.
Market data and tickers referenced in this report:
- SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660)
- Index reference: KS11 (KOSPI)
- American Depository Receipts ticker: SKHY